Question

B

    Ever since I was a small girl in school, I’ve been aware of what the school textbooks say about Indians. I am an Indian and, naturally, am interested in what the schools teach about natives of this land.

One day, I read that a delicacy(美味) of American Indian people was dried fish, which , according to the textbook, tasted “like an old shoe, or was like chewing on dried leather.” To this day I can remember my surprise, my anger and my sadness at reading these words. We called this wind-dried fish “sleet-shus”, and to us, it was our favorite delicacy and, indeed, did not  taste like shoe leather, and didn’t rot our teeth and bring about the various dietary problem that trouble Indian people in modern times. It took many hours of long and hard work to cure the fish in just this particular fashion. Early fur traders and other non-Indians must have agreed, for they often had this food as they traveled around isolated areas.

I brought the textbook home to show it to my father, leader of my tribe at that time. On this particular day, he told me in his wise and modest manner that the outside world did not understand Indian people, and that I should not let it prevent me from learning the good parts of education.

At a later time in my life, I had brought a group of Indian people to the country fairgrounds to sell Indian-made arts and crafts. My group was excited to make some money by selling Indian handicrafts. We thanked the man who showed us to our booth and told him it was nice of him to remember the people of the Indian community. The man expanded a little and remarked that he liked Indian people. “In fact,” he went on to state, “we are bringing some professional Indians to do the show!”

As we stood there in shock, listening to this uninformed outsider, I looked at my dear Indian companion, an eighty-year-old woman who could well remember the great chiefs of the tribe who once owned all the land of this country before the white man came bringing “civilization”, which included diseases and pollution. My friend said not a word, but took the hurt as Indian people have done for many years.

Of course, we all knew that the “professional Indian” were not Indians at all, but dressed in leather and dancing their own dances. And, anyway, how does one become a “professional Indian”?

45．Which of the following statements about “sleet-shus” is true?

       A．It tasted like an old shoe.

       B．Eating it was like chewing on dried leather.

       C．It was delicious but bad for our teeth.

       D．It must have brought pleasure to Indians as well as early business men.

46．What does the writer mean by saying “how does one become ‘a professional Indian’”?

       A．Only the Indians know how to become professional Indians.

       B．The outside civilization can help and Indian become a professional Indian.

       C．An Indian is a born professional Indian.

       D．The outside civilization can help white people become professional Indians.

47．After reading the passage, you don’t know __________.

       A．what the writer’s profession is

       B．what upset the writer and her friend at the county fair

       C．why the writer went to the county fair

       D．the writer’s attitude to the so-called civilization

48．This story is primarily about ___________.

       A．customs of native Americans

       B．how textbooks describe native Americans.

       C．misunderstanding between people from different cultures

       D．how an Indian becomes a “professional Indian”

Answer 1

45—48 DCAC